Daily Number

17 percent

December 10, 2012

There are 1.4 million New Jerseyans -- 17 percent of the population -- living beneath the federal poverty line, which was pegged at $22,350 for a family of four in 2011.

Another 6 percent, or 559,800, have incomes below the cutoff for the recommended income for Medicaid expansion under the ACA. This is a lower percentage than the nation as a whole, which has 20 percent of Americans living below the poverty line with another 8 percent with an income less than 138 percent of that amount.

Of the entire New Jersey population, 21 percent of children live in poverty, while 12 percent of the elderly do so. Slightly more women are in poverty than men.

In terms of race, 9 percent of whites are considered to be in poverty, 33 percent of blacks, and 29 percent of Hispanics.